Sliding door



Sept. 19, 1939. w. ABENDROTH SLIDING DOOR Filed May 14, 1938 'Patented Sept. i9, 1939 UNITED sTATEs PATENT oFFlcE Wilhelm Abendroth, Dusseldorf, German! application May 14, 193s, serial No. 201,959

- y In switzerland october zo. 193.7

1 claim. (el. 11i-ss) l This invention relates to a sliding door which is suspended either directly or by means oi an adjusting device from the lower arm of an approximately U-shaped supporting rail which is 5 supported by means o! two or more balls which runinthelowerarmofaxedrunningrail which is also approximately U-shaped.

One novel feature of the sliding door of the present invention is that the upper arm of the rail from which the door is suspended is guided,

when the door is moved, in a straight line in the upper arm of the ilxed rail by a bulge or projection which is pressed upwardly out of the supporting rail and is situated in a vertical plane passing throughthe centres of the balls; the distance between the top of theprojectionand the bottom of the balls is approximately equal to the distance between the two arms of the running rail, so that, when the door is moved, the balls run on the lower arm and the projection slides on the upper arm of the running rail. 'Ihe 'supporting rail is therefore well and securely guided in the'running rail and cannot be lifted up out A of contact with the balls.

Another novel feature oi tbe invention is that the upper arm of the supporting rail is provided with two oppositely situated running edges which make contact with the balls approximately half way down the upper half of the balls while the balls themselves rest wholly above the track on the running rail so that, when the door is moved,

the balls roll with their full peripheryon the track of the running rail, whereas the supporting rail moves on a circle 0i smaller diameter. The eiect of this is that the distance through i which the supporting rail moves relatively to the balls is small in comparison with the total displacement of the door, and also the distance travelled by the balls themselves is lesa than the 40 total displacement of the door.

A further novel feature of the invention con-v sists in the arrangement o! the .balls and in the -means for keeping them apart from one another. For this purpose each ball is tted in cage consisting of two rings, and the' cages are connected together by means disposed above the balls in the bulge or projection on the supporting rail; By this means the balls are kept at a iixed distance apart when the door is moved and are prevented from falling out when the supporting rail is placed in the running rail during assembly.

A sliding door constnicted in accordance with the invention is illustratedby way of example 55 inthe accompanying drawing. in which l gf between the arms `or the ofarodwhichis.

Figure 1 is a part longitudinal section through the door, A Figure 2 is a cross section-on the line A-B o! Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a longitudinal elevation of the two 5 ball cages after removal from the door together with the rod by which they are connected, and

Figure 4 is a section on the line C-D oi Figure 3.

Referring to the drawing, a represents the 10 door, which is suspended from the lower arm c of a supporting rail d. The height of the door can be adjusted by means of two adjusting devices b consisting oi screws and nuts. The reference e representsa running rail which is fixed 15 in position and has a lower arm s which forms the track f and an upper arm r oi which the part y acts as a guide. The reierences h. represent two balls on which two running 'edges i provided on the supporting rail d can run. 'I'he 9 upper arm l of the supporting-rail d is provided with an upward bulge or projection m which is situated in a vertical plane through the centre of the balls h. This projection is guided by the part g of the upper arm r of the running rail e. 25 The lowest points of the two balls h arel supported on the track f of the lower arm s of the running rail e and each of them is carried in a cage which consists of two rings n connected by a bar o. The two cages are connectedl together a. by a rod p which is welded on above the bars o. The connecting rod p is arranged inside the bulge 1n and above the pins q connecting the two vertical side walls lcv o! the upper arm l of the supporting rail d. The pins q are riveted on- 35 afterA the two cages together with the connecting rod p have been placed in position. The two running edges i of the upper arm I of the supporting rail d make contact with the two balls h approximately halfway down'the upper half 40 of the balls and the distance between the track f and the part a ofthe running rail e is such that there is only quite' a small amount of play running rail e and the upper arm l o! the supporting rail d and the 45 two balls h vwhich they engage, the' balls resting on the track i of the running rail e.

By this means the door can be moved easily and the movemen of the balls relatively to the supporting rail is only small. Any tendency of 50 the balls to over-fron the supporting rail or to is obviated and the balls and the be assembled in the' Therunningrallis screwed on alter the wpension device has been completely -section with the side arms assembled, the supporting rail being moved sideways so that the places where the screws are to be xed are accessible.

I claim:

A door hanger for sliding doors comprising a track member of substantially U-shape in cross thereof disposed in vertically spaced horizontal planes dening upper and lower track guides, a door supporting member of substantially U-shape in cross section having the side arms disposed with the upper arm disposed between the upper and lower arms of the track member in opposed relation, balls and a cage therefor carried by the door supporting member between the upper arm of the door supporting member thereof horizontally the track member, and said upper and lower v track guides being mutually transversely curved with the door supporting member capable of limited swinging movement transversely of the track member with the ball and rib maintaining constant engagement with said track guides to prevent vibratory movements of the door supporting member relative to the track member.

WILmILM ABENDROTH. 

